Italian, Vital Function Parasite, A big glob of shit that; instead of taking the regular course down and out, it instead moves up, strangling as many vital and necessary parts and functions as it can.

Hey Jimmy, I heard a bunch of Iraq contractors are suffering from a Tessitore. The big piece of shit just keeps moving up on them strangling every vital function it encounters.

Yea Allan, I knew a bunch of guys at the Ice Company in Jacksonville who suffered for years with Tessitore. Like other parasites it seems to be a nuisance at first and then grows until it strangles its host from the inside out.